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How Much Will James Laurinaitis' Role With Ohio State Football Change This Year? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to Buck guys tomorrow morning for Friday, February twenty third. I'm your
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  host, Tom Moore. The Akron game is in one hundred and ninety days.
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  The game against Michigan in two hundred and eighty one days. All right,
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  today we're going to be hearing directly from Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurenidis,
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  the newest member of the Ohio State coaching staff. He had some very
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  very interesting thing to say during interviews earlier in the week, so interesting,
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  in fact, I think we're actually going to have two separate shows about this,
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  one about his thoughts on coaching in the new coaching position and his new
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  role and all that kind of stuff, because he had a ton of interesting
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  stuff to talk about with that, and recruiting and all that kind of stuff.
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  And then we'll have a whole separate show coming up on Sunday with Laura
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  Nidis talking about the actual guys in his room and where guys might fit in
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  different roles and all that kind of stuff. He is a really, really
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  good interview I think you guys are really going to enjoy both of these episodes.
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  All right, let's start with this one. James Lourniitis obviously came over
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  from Notre Dame last year to be the new graduate assistant sort of overseeing the
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  linebackers at Ohios date did he expect that he was going to get the linebacker's
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  job this year. I don't think you ever expect. I think a lot
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  of times you just you try to go to work and do your role and
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  do it to the best of your ability. And obviously I was aware that
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  the position was open and was hopeful. It's something that I believe a year
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  ago when I came back, I kind of voiced that was my dream was
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  to be linebacker's coach here, and so there was kind of a lot of
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  unknown going through those few weeks and going on the road and recruiting for the
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  first time and all of that actually in person and doing that stuff. But
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  I felt pretty confident that I had done the best job I could have to
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  prepare myself for the opportunity, and just grateful that Coach Day believed in me.
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  One of the big differences in being one of the ten countable assistants as
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  opposed to a graduate assistant is you now can go on the road and recruit,
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  and when he was on the road recently recruiting linebackers. It's his job
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  to plan those trips. So what is it like to be on the road
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  as a one of the ten accountable coaches as a recruiter, and what's it
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  like to try and plan one of those trips. A lot of logistics,
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  you know, you're trying to figure out. I mean, ever since I
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  was young, I've always I think it was my dad. I always wanted
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  to be on time. So really that was, to be honest, that
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  was the first thing that I popped my mind. If I told a coach
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  I was going to be there at a certain time, I wanted to be
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  earlier or on a time, And you're just trying to map out how many
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  schools can you see within a certain amount of time and trying to prioritize what
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  players you wanted to see, you know, in those time periods as well.
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  So I thrived on the opportunity to meet these players, they're coaches,
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  the people who are important to them in person. It's one thing that I
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  think to do it over the phone, it's another thing to be able to
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  do it in person and let them see you and face the face. I
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  think it is a lot more impactful. So I was grateful for that opportunity
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  and look forward to continue to do it. Laura Nottis was a significant part
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  of the Ohio State coaching staff last year as well as a graduate assistant for
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  the linebackers. Will this year be much different for him? I don't think
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  a lot is different. I certainly felt like the linebacker coach last year.
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  I think the guys would have said the same thing. It's the little things
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  that it's the little things to me that you know, maybe not doing some
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  things in the breakdown. You know that a that a graduate assistant does.
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  Being able to have my own office is to be honest, like when you're
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  when you're meeting with the guys and we were kind of meeting in the defensive
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  staff room and everyone's trying to get ready for practice, right, so people
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  are walking in and out, and I think just having my own space,
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  that's something that I mean's a little thing with something I'm looking for to definitely
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  and and so I think for me it's it's all those just just knowing that
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  the title brings that that's your like those are your guys, that's your room,
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  and there's a lot of responsibility with that, but I but I cherished
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  that as a graduate assistant. Last year, laurenete Is was a graduate student
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  at Ohio State, so he's supposed to be learning and growing. So how
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  has he grown over the last year as a graduate student. I think a
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  lot of it is, you know, I think I spoke about it last
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  year. It's teaching progression is one thing, and now thankfully being in the
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  same scheme for two years in a row, I think will be very beneficial.
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  You know, year one at Notre Dame, you're learning how to teach
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  it, you know, and you forget what young college players don't know.
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  And then coming over here, a lot of it was trying to learn what
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  Knowles was not only his scheme, but how he wanted it to be coached.
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  And now understanding the scheme and kind of what it is, you can
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  just dive deeper. And so I'm really excited about it. You know,
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  I'm looking forward to a big spring for our guys, you know, with
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  Cody and CJ and Gay Powers and r vel Reeve. So there's a lot
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  of guys that are gonna be fighting for playing time. I think Cody's really
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  the only one with starts under his belt. So it's a big spring for
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  a lot of for a lot of our guys. Now that Laura and Iidis
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  is one of the ten countable coaches, does he have more of a voice
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  in the room right now in terms of what the scheme is, how they
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  do things all that. Yeah. And I think early on when I came
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  back here, you know, I tried. I was very aware of that,
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  you know, I being a former player here, I didn't want anyone
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  in the building to think that, I'll put it this way, tim.
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  I wanted to work for everything, if that makes sense. You know.
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  I didn't want to come back and I think sometimes there's a stigma with former
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  players because sometimes I think some of them have been that way where they just
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  expect things handed to him. I didn't want that to be the case.
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  I wanted to work for everything, and so you know, a lot of
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  times I would just absorb a lot of information. As the season went on,
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  I and I felt a little more comfortable expressing stuff. But now that
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  the title is what it is, I think, you know, you got
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  to speak up when when you see things a certain way, and whether that's
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  scheme wise or technique, whatever it is. And look, I think a
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  lot of times last year, I agreed with a lot of what we were
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  doing. You know, I think we had obviously, we had a lot
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  of success on defense. So what is it that James Laurnis thinks that he
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  did last year, that he did well enough that Ryan Day felt like he
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  deserved this linebackers coaching job this year. Well, I hope there's a I
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  hope there's a certain intelligence that I brought. And I've talked to Cody Simon
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  about this, Tommy Steal, all those guys. But I think there's a
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  certain way to go about preparing, not only for practicing, but for for
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  the game and how you see the game that is very unique, and so
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  I try to bring a perspective. I mean, it's one thing to go
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  through and learn how to coach technique from clinics and all that stuff, and
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  then when you go out there and live it, like I was blessed to
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  do, you kind of realize what works, what doesn't, what looks really
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  good in practice, and what doesn't actually apply. And I'm constantly trying to
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  reevaluate what I'm teaching these guys because there's a lot of things that I've been
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  taught that I'm like, this doesn't work. And then there's certain things that
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  will work for certain players and won't you know, there's certain skill sets that
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  maybe a gay powers has that CJ. Hicks doesn't have, and vice versa.
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  Right like, so you're always trying to cater your techniques to the room
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  as a whole, but also to the individual. And I just think playing
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  gives me a perspective of I also know mentally and physically what these guys are
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  going through. I know what plays are realistic to make and what aren't.
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  I think the guys appreciate that, you know, because I know Tommy.
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  Tommy and I have talked about it where he just felt that having the perspective
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  of someone who has done it before at the level that I was blessed to
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  do it at just kind of gave them that when I would say something it
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  it carried some weight as I probably don't need to tell you signs signals,
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  stealing of signs in signals, well, that turned into a pretty significant story
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  during the course of last football season. Last year, James Loerniitis, as
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  one of the GA's, was one of the coaches who signaled plays in from
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  the sideline. So how challenging was it to do that and then also to
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  try and think about managing your personnel and rotating your guys and all of that
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  last fall. Yeah, well, I'll tell you what. Another thing I'm
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  excited about when you're a full time coach is not signaling, you know,
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  as stressful man, and obviously for big reason with a lot of the well
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  publicized stuff that kind of went on around signaling in our conference, I think
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  it's very stressful. And when you're trying to come up for I mean you're
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  talking about week after week changing signals. I took up a lot of your
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  time. It became an expert in sign language sometimes with some of these calls,
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  and I think not having to do that in a serious point of view
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  is the fact that like when I'm signaling, I'm sitting there waiting for what
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  Gym's going to call next, where I don't really have I didn't have time
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  to digest what was the last what happened on that play? Right? You
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  kind of had to separate coaching and signaling, where I think now just being
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  able to coach all a lot better pulse on Okay, what are the plays
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  that are actually happening? Because that's a lot to handle when it's when it's
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  when it's going on, and you had to have three sometimes we had five
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  signalers up and trying to confuse people on who's active who's not. But I
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  think also, you know, the spring, for instance, like you have
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  to think about it like this, Cody Simon need a lot of reps.
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  I don't think so. I think there are young players who need to make
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  a lot of mistakes because I think some guys learn from making mistakes, and
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  if you don't give them the opportunity to make a lot of mistakes, well
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  they really truly grow. And so I think, you know, this spring,
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  I got to be even more intentional on rotations even within practice, with
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  science dealing obviously being sort of at the forefront of everyone's thought is James loriniis
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  a fan of the move now to add helmet speakers for players at the college
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  level. I played with it. Now you're still going to have to have
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  signals because of tempo, and you're got mean you can imagine in the shoe
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  if a team, if the crowd is getting into it and it's second down,
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  they go tempo. On third down, you know you can communicate it
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  in now it depends on is it just the mic or are they going to
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  let a Mike linebacker I mean, or are they going to let the whole
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  defense happen? A lot of that has to be ironed out because in the
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  NFL, it's a green dot, it's one guy. So you would get
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  the call and then be on you to signal it or yell it to everybody
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  else in the defense, which I know during the bowl games some of the
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  teams had it where the whole defense would have the mic. That would be
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  a dream, but just because you know, it would prevent obviously a lot
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  of the signs dealing and stuff that happens. Last year was the second year
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  for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles at Ohio State, but the first one for James
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  Laura and I is working under Jim Noles. So what's something he learned from
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  Jim Knowles last fall? Seeing how how Jim calls a game and his thought
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  process is fascinating because he really is brilliant with how I mean when you go
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  back and sell Scott on when he made certain calls against certain formations and you're
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  like, my goodness, this guy is on, you know, with with
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  what he's deciding to call. I think just being with him Tim for the
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  whole year, you got to see how he approached the game. You got
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  to see kind of his expectations. And then I think with with someone like
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  Jim, like when you don't know, you got to ask a question kind
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  of like what he's looking for. But I think you just you know when
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  you're one where you're getting to know somebody and you're working with them, and
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  then now it's like, Okay, I know what he expects. And so
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  I think there's just experience that has been that has been very fruitful and I'm
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  I think, you know, I'll be better for it this year having been
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  through a full season with him. Even before he was one of the ten
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  countable coaches, you already heard that James Lorinidis was really having an impact in
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  recruiting. Was a key piece in landing a couple significant linebackers for Ohighest State
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  over the last year. So he's already had some input in recruiting even before
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  taking on full time linebacker coaching position. Is it now just his call who
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  they recruit? He doesn't just have input, it's his decision. Here's what
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  he had to say about that yeah, I think. I think yes.
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  So when you go in there and make the board, yeah, you're you're
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  ranking them the way you see them. And coach Day has always said that,
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  like you're the head coach of your position, you're the one in charge
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  to each of us, and so with the title comes that responsibility. So
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  I think the reaction, I'll tell you what it's It's nice to be able
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  to tell them now that I can know like I am the linebacker coach,
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  I don't just coach the linebackers because there's a difference there. I've had that
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  used against me over the last year, quite honestly, to where parents or
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  recruits have said essentially like how do I know you're going to be there?
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  I won't name names, but other schools have said, hey, he's not
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  even gonna be there, he's gonna have to leave to get a full time
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  role, and so you kind of have to navigate that not anymore thankfully,
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  but I mean, when you're here, you don't like I don't. I
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  try to be in an ambassador of Ohio State. I love this school.
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  It's changed my life. It's done wonders for me and my family to play
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  here. Recruit your position at the school you went to, at the place
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  that you love. It's so natural, and so you know when you're explaining
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  it to people like I'm sure there are some coaches have to come off as
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  car salesmen like or ain't none of that because I've lived it, and I
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  think that's a huge benefit. When you're talking to young people trying to convince
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  them to come to your school, It's like, this is what it differ
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  for me, and the fact that I'm not from Ohio, I give another
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  that's a whole other perspective when you're talking to kids not from Ohio. But
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  now that I've been through here and the brotherhood was obviously accepting me and buck
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  a nation is so incredible. It's like there's a reason why I'm why I'm
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  here because I love this place and I want to raise my girls around this
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  place because of how special it is and how it changed my life, and
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  I know what it can change all these other young men's lives. And finally,
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  a great question here and an even better answer. James Flord and I
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  has had a long and storied career in the NFL, made a whole lot
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  of money. He could very easily just go play golf for the rest of
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  his life, or go sit on a beach or whatever he wants to do.
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  So what is it that makes him want to be a college football coach
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  with all the weird hours and travel that comes with that. It's a really
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  hard moment when you watch film and you're like, Okay, I need to
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  do X y Z and then a don's on you. My body can't do
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  X y Z anymore. That's hard to come to grips with when you love
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  the game so much. And so since fourth grade, I've been told when
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  practices what lifts to do. Your life's kind of been mapped out around this
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  game that you love and you're obsessed with since fourth grade for eight months.
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  It took me a while to really I don't know if bitterness is the right
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  word, just almost like a frustration that you couldn't participate in the game you
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  loved it anymore. After I decided to retire, so I tried to figure
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  out, like what else really interests you? And then dawned on me after
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  eight months, like your love is football, Like your major was football?
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  Like yes, I have a degree in communications, I used it doing radio
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  and TV, but my first love has always been football, so I felt
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  like the PhD was in that, and so I was like, Okay.
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  At first, that's why I got in the media. I wanted to be
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  around the game. And then once I was in media, I felt myself
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  getting fired up whenever I did the coaches interviews, and I just asked myself
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  one off season, I'm like, I think I was getting to be thirty
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  five years old. I'm like, if you don't jump into this, you
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  might look back and really regret it. And so once I jumped into it,
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  I knew it was the right thing to do. I think a lot
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  of it is because I love young people, so I want to see young
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  people get to live their dream out like I was able to. I joke
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  all the time there's a three star from Minnesota, but really, like my
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  singular focus was just I'm gonna keep playing football until they don't let me anymore.
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  And when you come to a place like Ohio State, whether you're blessed
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  to play five years here and that's it, or whether you're blessed to play
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  ten years in the league like this town and this fan base, if you
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  treat it right, will take care of you for life, and it becomes
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  your family. And so I think, as I dealt kind of in media
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  and then I jumped in the coaching, it was like, this is obvious,
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  this is obvious. You love the game of football, you love young
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  people. And I felt the coaches that I played for, Luke Fickle,
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  Jim Tressel, Steve Spagnola, the Chiefs, they were all great developers of
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  men as well and probably the three most impactful men in my life outside of
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  my father. So the thought that I could hopefully be that to somebody else,
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  I think is what gets me up every morning, you know. And
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  I tell a lot of these recruits like, yes, I want to be
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  there with you in the green room when Goodell calls your name, right,
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  Like that's a lot of these kids want to get developed. But I also
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  hope that these men call me when they decide to get engaged someday or get
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  married and they're like, hey, coach, I want you there. Because
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  that's the kind of relationship that I have with Luke Fickle, this kind of
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  relationship I have with Spags is that they were it was more than just ball,
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  and so I think that's why I wake up and I attack it every
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  day. Well that will do it for today again, you will hear be
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  hearing more from James Lorinidis in a couple of days. He had some great
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  stuff to say about some of the Buckey's younger players, some of the guys
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  who might be impact players coming out of the spring, and much much more.
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  Get that on Sunday. You have that to look forward to over the
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  weekend. We also have a full spring to look forward to at bucke huddle
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  dot com, where Tony, Kevin and I cover the team, Mark covers
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  recruiting. We're going our whole team of exits and those gurus making you a
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  smarter football fan all at bucke huddle dot com. We hope to see you
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  there. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
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  We will talk to you tomorrow